Nonprofits Urge Malawi to Refocus Spending
The meeting is part of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development’s efforts to gather input for the 2024/2025 national budget.
BLANTYRE, Malawi - The Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN) has advised the government to shift its focus from social issues to profitable investments, aiming to revitalize the economy, writes Mustafa Makumba.
MEJN Regional Director Mike Marvin Banda stated during a meeting on public debt and budget at Blantyre Civic Centre that the government’s current emphasis on less productive endeavors hinders economic growth.
“Funds allocated to social matters such as Agricultural Input Programme (AIP) can be redirected into lucrative businesses such as mega farms for us to realize the much needed economic improvement,” Banda said.
Banda recommended reallocating resources from social matters to lucrative investments, emphasizing the importance of MW2063’s first Pillar—Agricultural Productivity and Commercialization—and the Second Pillar of Urbanization for economic robustness.
Banda emphasized that some social matters that demand much money should be laid off to give room for other profitable investments.
Maynard Nyirenda, chair for NGOs in Blantyre, echoed this advice, urging NGOs to pursue projects contributing to forex generation and economic progress.
“We need to play our role as NGOs to help the country’s aspiration of producing and exporting for foreign exchange generation,” Nyirenda said.
The meeting is part of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development’s efforts to gather input for the 2024/2025 national budget, an effort to operationalize the national development agenda, MW2063.